Vereva/Nocturnal Eye
|livable = |temp = -80°F (-62°C) |comp = Ice }} General The Nocturnal Eye is the moon of Vereva, and exists as its planet's only satellite. The Nocturnal Eye and the Diurnal Eye are named for the goddess Bevesta of Vereva's main religious faith Majicium. The two celestial bodies are said to be her eyes watching over the denizens of Vereva without discrimination. In folklore, the Nocturnal Eye sees all that happens and exists in the darkness and shadows of the planet, and the Diurnal Eye sees all that takes place in the light. Distance and orbit The Nocturnal Eye hovers in a low orbit above Vereva, an estimated 50,000 miles above sea level. Its low orbit Allows it to be visible in the sky at all times by at least 3/4 of the planet's inhabitants. The moon completes an orbit around the planet in approximately 450 day. As the planet doesn't spin alike Earth, the position of the moon as it orbits Vereva as well a the strict sleeping cycle of the planet's inhabitants denote how time is kept on the planet. Time using the moon : See also: Verevian Calendar The Nocturnal Eye is the largest contributor to timekeeping of Vereva. The months, seasons, and years are all factors of time based from the moons cycles, while the lesser periods of time such as days, hours and minutes are based from the sleeping cycles of the peoples. The largest period of time, called an era, is measured in reference with the sun. The year is the basis for the time keeping. A year is the entire amount of time (450 Verevian days) for the moon to orbit around Vereva, traveling from its starting point above Pömt Mirvë and moving counterclockwise until it reaches its starting point again. The era is a period of 89 years and is used almost uniquely by the Aelven race. The months are judged on a basis of the position of te Nocturnal Eye in the sky. Summer occurs as the Nocturnal Eye rests in the sky in the west, at its furthest point from the sun. Winter occurs when the Nocturnal Eye hangs in the east, blocking the light of the sun. Spring and autumn occur as the moon is in the south sky and north sky respectively. A more detailed position of the moon in the sky, such as directly right of the sun, directly left of the sun, or directly blocking the sun denotes the month of the year. Physical attributes The atmosphere of the Nocturnal Eye is assumed breathable, though scienties of Vereva have not yet means to study this. Its outer surface is composed of deep layers of ice. This ice can melt and break off in the summer months when the Nocturnal Eye blocks the sun. When this happens, large amounts of water and sheets of ice fall into the Beating Heart and the Earthflow creating the mists. Folklore Some cultures of Vereva have various stories concerning the Nocturnal Eye. Dwarven folklore In Dwarven culture, the moon has been a symbol of prosperity as far back as year -2,000. The Dwarves believed that being close to the moon would bring them bountiful harvests in the summer, early hunting in the spring, long warm autumns and a bearable winter. The Dwarves had a long lineage of migration following the moon as it traveled the sky throughout each year. In the late 6,000s, the migration ended with the Rith tuu vym Mirvem, or "Road to the North," a migration of Dwarves from all over the Great Continent following the moon to the north. The Dwarves however disnt take into the movement of the moon through the year and mistakenly followed the moon west, into the tundra Pernaçë. They claimed the land as "Vy Mirvë," the Mirvermish phrase for "the north" thinking they'd reached the northernmost lands of Vereva. Centaur and Aelven folklore The tales that tell of the moon's being the eye of a god originate not as religious myths of Majicium, but as cultural myths handed down generation by generation by the Aelves of Attelith. These Aelves are theorized to have derived their tales from the tales of the Centaurs. The Centaurs theorized that the moon was the center or the universe and it displayed its dominance over Vereva by traveling through its skies. See also * Diurnal Eye * Vereva Category:Vereva